Method of lacing shoe uppers



Filed April 6, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 5, 1937. F. A. KEANEY I METHOD OF LACING SHOE UPPERS Filed April 6, 1933 Jan. 5, 1937. F. A. KEANEY METHOD LACING SHOE UPPERS Filed April 6, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet s wmn d rt i L Patented Jan. 5, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF LACING SHOE UPPERS Application April 6, 1933, Serial No. 664,754

10 Claims.

The .present invention relates to .a method of lacing shoe uppersand to a form of lacing for use in securing the eyeletted edges of a shoe upper together preparatory to positioning the upper on a last.

In-the usual method of lacing shoe uppers for the lasting operation, a .cord is inserted through the eyeletslof the shoe upper and tied in such a way that one or more portions of the cord will cross the outside surfaces of the upper at the edges when-the two sides of the upper are separated in position on a last. During the operation on the shoewhile supported on the last, the lacing cord may be subject to considerable tension, and some slight movement of the cord may take place due .to the strains imparted to the shoe upper. Engagement of thecord with the outside edges of the shoe is undesirable because, with shoes having a delicate finish or having rubber or composition facings on the outer surfaces of their eyeletted edges, the cord engaging these .edges will injure the surfaces and mar the appearance, of the shoe.

One object. of the present invention is to providea new'and improved. method for lacing shoe uppers preparatory to the lasting operation which will form a strong lacing without subjecting the outer surfaces of the shoe to damage by engage- 'ment with the lacing. .Another object of the in- ,vention is to provide novel and improved means for securing the eyeletted edges of an upper together, whichmeans will not engage the edges of the-.uppenor act to produce injury to the finish of the surfaces of the upper.

According toafeature of the invention, a lacing .cordxispassed through certain of the eyelets inione side of the upper, and through adjacent eyelets in'theopposite side without crossing the outside edges of either side'and are so tied that the. cord; extends directly'between adjacent eyelets: in opposite sides and substantially'para-llel to the edges alongthe outer surfaces of the sides between eyelets in the same sideof the upper.

Other features of the invention will be further explained inconnection with the machine shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a left hand side elevation partly in section of a machine by means. of which the invention may be practiced on an upper located in the machine;

Fig. 2v is asimilar view of a portion of the machine showing the position taken by the upper before the .machine is started inoperation; Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale and in section along the. line 3-3 of Fig. 1 of certain parts of the lace inserting mechanism of the machine; Fig. 4 is a similar view with the upper .in the position shown, in Fig. 2 after the machine is started in operation; and Figs, 5 to 9 inclusive are diagrammatic views on a still further enlarged scale indicating the position taken by the cord and the upper during difierent steps of the lacing operation.

As herein illustrated, the present invention is efiected with the use of a lacing machine similar, except as hereinafter described, to that disclosed in the U. S. Patent No. 1,030,573, granted June 25, 1912 toH. E. Enslin. In this machine the upper, after being adjusted in position, is laced and the ends of the lacing cord are tied by the'continued the loop which extends through the eyelets of the upper and tied by a knotting mechanism Hi to the end of the cord which is held in position by a gripper H3. The cord is passed through the loop carried by the spindle ID by a cord carrying needle mounted to reciprocate across the front. of the machine, and through the eye of which the cord is supplied. When the lacing operation is completed, the cord is released from the'gripper and the knotting mechanism so that the laced upper may be removed from the spindle.

In practising the present invention on the machine, the two sides of the shoe upper l2, illustrated as being composed of cloth or canvas with rubber facings'Zl, are arranged in parallel relation with eyelets in opposite sides registering.v Arpair of registering eyelets is then positioned on the spindle I0, and the eyeletted edges'of the upper folded back upon themselves to permit a second pair of registering eyelets to be slipped over the end of the spindle, to a position shown in Fig. 4. To assist in folding the upper, an angularly bent leaf spring 22 is secured at its lower end by a thumb screw 24 to the frame of the machine, and is formed at its upper end with a slotted portion to embrace the spindle T0. The spring 22 ordinarily assumes a position, indicated in Fig. 3 near the outer end of the needle, and the slotted portion acts to spread the loop slightly, so that when the first pair of eyelets is applied to the spindle, they will be supportedto a certain extent by frictional engagement of the thread against the inside of the eyelets. When held in this position, the upper may easily be folded, and the second pair of eyelets applied to the spindle, after which the upper may be forced rearwardly, causing the spring 22 to yield, as shown in Fig. 2.

Before the machine is started in operation, the upper and the cord take the positions illustrated in Fig. 5, a loop of the cord having been inserted through two pairs of registering eyelets at the edges of the upper when the upper is applied to the machine, and the ends of the cord being held by the machine. After the cord needle has operated to pass a portion of the cord through the loop (Fig. 6) the portion of cord eX- tending through the loop is engaged by the grippers l8 and severed between the grippers and the eye of the needle 20. The needle is then retracted, and the knotting mechanism operated to form a knot 26, Fig. 7.

A double lacing is thus formed through both pairs of registering eyelets through which the loop was inserted, and when the upper is unfolded (Fig. 8) those portions of the cord extending along the outside surfaces of the upper sides directly between the eyelets, lie in alinement and parallel to the registering edges of the upper. The portions of the cord which connect the two sides extend inside the upper directly between the eyelets of each registering pair without crossing the edges of the facings 2|, and no portions of the cord are brought into engagement with the facing edges. When the sides of the upper are separated as when positioned on a last (Fig. 9) the cord is prevented from marring the surfaces of the facings by the portions of the eyelets which project above them.

The provision of a double cord throughout the length of the lacing not only increases the strength of the lacing, but aids in preventing the upper from being abraded, if the cord happens to contact with it, by distributing the forces applied to the lacing when the upper is being manipulated on the last. The looped portion of the cord also aids in causing the tension to be more nearly equalized in the doubled portions, because the cord will slip in one direction or the other through the looped portions much easier than would a double cord running continuously in the same direction through all of the eyelets.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and a specific embodiment of the invention having been described, what is claimed 1. The method of lacing shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the two sides of an upper in parallel relation with the eyeletted edges in contact, folding the sides on themselves with eyelets of the same and opposite edges in registration, passing a cord through the registering eyelets and tying one end of the cord to the other.

2. The method of lacing shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the two sides of the upper in parallel relation with the eyeletted edges in contact and with eyelets in registration, passing a single loop of cord through at least two eyelets in the same side and registering eyelets in the opposite side of the upper, engaging another portion of the cord with the loop extending through the eyelets, and tying one end of the cord to the other.

3. The method of lacing shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the two sides of the upper in parallel relation with the eyeletted edges in contact, folding the sides on themselves with eyelets of the same and opposite edges in registration, passing a single loop of cord through the registering eyelets, engaging another portion of the cord with the loop extending through the eyelets, and tying one end of the cord to the other.

4. The method of lacing shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the two sides of an upper in parallel relation with the eyeletted edges in contact, folding the sides on themselves with eyelets of the same and opposite sides of registration, passing a single loop of cord through the registering eyelets, engaging another portion of the cord with the loop, tying one end of the cord to the other, unfolding the upper and separating the eyeletted edges to cause the portions of the cord extending inside the eyelets before separating to lie in alinement.

5. The method of lacing shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the two sides of an upper in parallel relation with the eyeletted edges in contact, folding the sides on themselves with eyelets of the same and opposite sides in registration, passing a needle carrying a loop of cord through the registering eyelets, engaging another portion of the cord with the loop extending through the eyelets, and tying one end of the cord to the other.

6. The method of lacing rubber faced shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the uppers with the eyeletted facings outside and with the two sides in contact, folding the upper sides on themselves with eyelets of the same and opposite edges in registration, passing a needle carrying a loop of cord through the registering eyelets, engaging another portion of the cord with the loop extending through the eyelets, tying one end of the cord to the other end, and separating the upper to cause those portions of the cord extending outside the fold before separation to lie in alinement parallel to and not crossing the facing edges.

7. A lacing for eyeletted shoe uppers comprising parallel lengths of cord extending between eyelets in one side of the upper, through said eyelets and adjacent eyelets in the opposite side of the upper and having a connecting loop, one end of the cord being passed through the loop and tied to the other end to form a double lacing throughout the entire length thereof.

8. The method of lacing eyeletted shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in passing a length of cord through two pairs only of registering eyelets in the sides of a folded upper and from one pair of eyelets to the other directly between eyelets of said pairs located on the same side of the work, the cord extending directly between eyelets in opposite sides without crossing the outside surface of the upper at the edge of either side, and forming permanent connections between a portion of cord extending from an eyelet in one side of the upper and a portion of cord extending from another eyelet in the same side of the upper without crossing the outside surface of the upper at the edge of either side, including a knot between the two cord ends.

9. The method of lacing faced eyeletted shoe uppers preparatory to lasting which consists in arranging the uppers with the eyeletted facings oustide and with the eyelets of the two sides registering, passing a single loop of cord through two pairs of registering eyelets in the sides of the upper with portions of cord connected to the loop extending from the same side of the upper, passing one extending portion of cord through the loop, and tying said portion of cord to the other extending portion.

10. A lacing for securing the eyeletted edges of shoe uppers preparatory to lasting comprising a cord passing through certain eyelets in one side of a folded upper and through registering eyelets in the other side, with all portions of cord outside the upper between any two eyelets extending parallel to the eyeletted edges when the edges are separated and with all portions of cord between registering eyelets extending at right angles to the eyeletted edges inside the upper Without crossing the outside surface of the upper at the edges, and a knot connecting the end portions of the cord together.

FRANCIS A. KEANEY. 

